Success Stories

#4. Community participation: Women of Bishniwal village running a successful water scheme

Land was bought to consolidate Gurdaspur in the 17th century. Later during partition it was divided again and split between India and Pakistan. The union and the partition of Gurdaspur has led to the certainty of the uncertain, bringing the present together to function exceptionally.

A village by the name of Bishniwal lies on the Balata Fatehgarh Churian road in Gurdaspur. Bishniwal has a population of 543 people spread across 106 families. It is a close-knit community and involvement of the people in the village for their rights and duties is exemplary. The village was facing issues regarding water supply timings and the pressure of water supply was also considerably low. The residents pro-actively approached the Department of Water Supply & Sanitation (DWSS) for a resolution.

The Social and Technical team explained the Gram Panchayat about the basic features of the new developments and ways to resolve their issues, like the construction of over head service reservoir, installation of tube well, laying of distribution pipelines, individual household connections, the approximate cost of the scheme and roles and responsibilities of Gram Panchayat and Water Sanitation Committee (GPWSC).

The Gram Panchayat along with a positive feedback formed a GPWSC and started with a beneficiary share of Rs. 41,000. The Water Supply Scheme was commissioned in September 2020, soon after the construction started with a watchful involvement of the Gram Panchayat and the GPWSC members. The GPWSC members have adopted a methodology for the book-keeping system of the Scheme, whereby, uninterrupted water supply is received from morning to evening, water bills are collected by the 10th of every month and record is maintained by the Secretary of the GPWSC. Timely payments and adherence to the roles and duties of each member has led to the successful running of the scheme with an O&M (operation & maintenance) balance of Rs. 38,000.

The village portrays great community participation and active women involvement encouraging further to perform better. The sense of responsibility which is instilled by the community participation adds to the better functioning.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13, Page 14, Page 15, Page 16, Page 17, Page 18, Page 19, Page 20, Page 21, Page 22, Page 23, Page 24, Page 25, Page 26, Page 27, Page 28, Page 29, Page 30, Page 31, Page 32, Page 33, Page 34, Page 35, Page 36, Page 37